Wine Vino Information Blog

Wine producers and distillers are proud of their product. It is this sense of pride and the hard work and quality of attention they put into their product that makes custom wine labels important to them. Wines are judged not just by the year the grapes used to produce them were harvested, or in what country they come from. Wine connoisseurs look at the vineyard and the quality of grape vine too. These details are found on the wine bottle label.

Traditionally, all wine bottles look the same and are labeled quite the same as well. To those inexperienced at buying wines, the many different varieties of wine on the shelves go unnoticed because they tend to buy their favorite brands.

In today?s globalized economy where products, including wines from all over the world, find their way into local supermarkets, competition has gotten edgier. If you are a wine producer, you need to step up on your marketing strategy. If you cannot modify the look of your glass bottle, as it is harder and more costly to do, you can modify your label. Generic bottles, what glass-packaging manufacturers call them, are mass-produced and are used by a variety of customers that extend beyond wine producers. For example, generic looking wine bottles are used to package olive oil, balsamic vinegar and other premium food ingredients. The trick in making these bottles look different from each other is in the labeling.

There are many labels available for clients who need to identify wine bottles. They include the usual paper labels in a two color-printing scheme, the glossy labels in four colors and shrink-wrapped labeling.

In the world of marketing, products are judged according to their packaging and labels. A customer?s impression of the product starts from how the product is presented on the shelf. An attractive label can often spell success for the product. There are many packaging companies and print houses with designers that offer custom-made wine labels. Check them out and compare prices as well as the scope of services they are willing to give.

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 10:56:49 PDT
Putting aside my bottle of the Big House's The Slammer 2006, a very good Syrah wine, which I recommend you pick up and drink, I have to look in complete disdain for Pierre Hardy's attempt at making Gap relevant.

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 14:46:33 PDT
Just in time for Father's Day, there is good news to share about wine books. We are happy to report that the concept of narrative writing about wine has returned. Here are three books that are good examples of what we mean.

Sun, 08 Jun 2008 13:18:44 PDT
When you select your next bottle of wine choose the one with a cork stopper and know that your choice is good for the environment and helps save another threatened forest.

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 14:33:20 PDT
Rose, champagne, sparkling wine, cava or maybe even a non-alcoholic sparkling beverage --any time is a good time for a bubbly. Whether you only want to spend $7 or $30 there is bubbly at every price range. Take a bottle to your next picnic or housewarming.

Wine asset management, as serious wine collecting and storage has come to be known, is available in a variety of configurations depending on what a wine lover's needs are. Storage options include vault-like facilities where a customer's wine has a room all to itself, facilities that catalog and store wines all together in a cave or warehouse, decorative custom racks and cellars for the home and even wine storage lockers at local restaurants.

When deciding on how to store your wine, consider the following:

How long will your wine need to be stored?

There are many reasons to store wine, and the longer you plan to store it, the more important environmental conditions are. Some wine lovers store wine with a long-term investment in mind while others, such as wineries, may just be looking for a temporary space while their own storage facilities are full.

The type of wine you are storing also plays a part in length of storage time since many wines change and become more complex over time. Modestly priced wines generally improve more in the short-term, while finer wines that have come from quality fruit, harvested at the peak of ripeness and sugar levels, and are processed appropriately, will develop more complex flavors, intense aromas and deeper colors over many years assuming they are stored under the proper conditions.

How important is consistent temperature, humidity and lighting?

At a lower temperature wine develops more slowly, which allows it to reach and maintain its peak drink ability. If wine becomes too warm, certain aspects may mature and decline before others have been optimized. A temperature-controlled facility is a must for collectors who will be storing their wine over a long period of time. The industry standard for wine cellaring is 55-57 degrees.

Humidity levels are important as well. High humidity will cause mold and mildew, which can damage a wine's label and foil. But too little humidity can cause corks to dry out, shrink, break the seal and ultimately spoil the wine. Humidity of between 60-70% is optimal and is the industry standard for cellar storage.

How important is security, privacy and accessibility?

If you are storing valuable wine and want to rest easy, you may want to choose a facility that has individual lockers, state-of-the-art alarm systems at the facility, and on each individual locker, on-site surveillance cameras and even a 24-hour, on-site security guard or residing resident manager. Also, a fire sprinkler system in the building would be reassuring.

Secure wine storage facilities located in earthquake country should also include sturdy shelving that is bolted securely to floors and walls and specifically designed to protect the wine in the event of an earthquake. If a facility also has a back-up generator system, you will have extra assurance that even during a power outage; your wine will be maintained at the proper temperature.

Other Storage Options

For wine collectors who want to keep their collection close to home, the sky's the limit when it comes to personal storage containers, racks, cooling systems and cellars. If cost is no object and sufficient space is available, there are companies that specialize in building home wine cellars. Of course, this is the most expensive option and should only be considered if one is certain they will not be moving anytime soon. If properly designed and constructed, the home wine cellar can be a source of great enjoyment, but like many home improvements, the cost of construction is unlikely to be recovered if the home needs to be sold and may limit its appeal to future buyers who are not wine collectors.

There are many home refrigeration units on the market for storage of wine, but most of these are of rather limited capacity and unlikely to meet the needs of a serious collector. However, these units can be a good part of a storage solution - allowing a small sampling of the collection to be kept at the home while the bulk of the wine is stored off-site in a secure facility.

A final option is the installation of built-in or free standing wine rack in a room of the home. The problem here is that the wine will not be stored at optimum conditions since most people do not want to maintain their home at 55 degrees. Thus, for valuable wines, this should only be a short term solution for wine ready to be consumed in the near future.

For collectors of valuable wines with long term potential, the best solution is probably a combination of off-site storage in a secure facility with ideal temperature and humidity conditions, with some small amount of temperature-controlled storage in the home for those wines which are ready to be enjoyed at the peak of perfection.

By having a proper wine storage facility at your disposal, it is possible to buy cases of wine when they are first released and store them until they reach their peak. This can save significant cost compared to buying such wines aged to perfection (if they can even be found), and some collectors can sell the wines they have aged under perfect conditions and make a profit to fund further acquisitions of fine wines. Enjoy!

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 20:00:18 PDT
Where would we be without rating and reputation systems these days? Take them away, and we wouldn’t know who to trust on eBay, what movies to pick on Netflix, or what books to buy on Amazon. Reputation systems (essentially a rating system for people) also help guide us through the labyrinth of individuals who make up our social web. Is he or she worthwhile to spend my time on? For pity’s sake, please don’t check out our reputation points before deciding whether to read this article. Rating and

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 00:27:58 PDT
I’ve a passion for Health and keep looking for more info. Today, I checked if I could find more info by entering ‘fat food’ in Google and found this: Earlier studies have shown it can blunt the toxic effects of a diet very high in fat, which causes liver damage, but this is the first study to directly look at ageing. … In short, a glass of wine or food or supplements that contain even small doses of resveratrol are likely to represent “a robust intervention in the retardation of c ardiac a

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 04:15:57 PDT
Yangarra Cadenzia GSM 2006 Monday, Jun 23 2008 Tasting Notes and Australia and McLaren Vale and Variety and Red and grenache et al Gary Walsh I’ve always thought that Cadenzia sounds more like something in which you might put your important papers and the like than the name of a regional wine style, but there you go. Rich and full to smell with plum, chocolate, earth and spice leading on to an equally rich and full bodied palate with the same plum, chocolate and pepper/spice flavours. It

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 04:46:38 PDT
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN star JOHNNY DEPP missed his home comforts while working on a new movie in the U.S. - so he arranged for a shipment of wine to be sent over from his ...